Speculations
Sarah Meyohas
December 1, 2019 - January 15, 2020
Yellow and Blue Speculation, 2017
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chromogenic Print
60 x 40 in (152.4 x 101.6 cm)
COUNTY is pleased to present Speculations, a solo exhibition by the internationally acclaimed new media artist Sarah Meyohas, who is exhibiting in Florida for the first time.
Does art reflect life or does life reflect art? In Meyohas's photo-based Speculations series, art reflects itself in an infinite loop. Meyohas uses two-way mirrors and hidden cameras—but no Photoshopping or digital manipulation of any kind—to generate spellbinding mise en abymes. The endless, concentric repetition of mirrors within mirrors within mirrors gives the appearance of structural infinity—a proverbial stairway to heaven composed of endless Joseph Albers squares. Any object that the artist places between the mirrors is instantly transfigured, becoming "art" by dint of its infinite reduplication. Ordinary rose petals or sprigs of wildflowers become transcendental tunnels of color, cascading in full bloom toward eternity's vanishing point. Within their self-contained system, the flowers remain forever young, bursting with color and vitality.
The title, Speculations, is a play on the idea of "specular" or mirrored relations, as well as a reference to "speculation" in the art market. "Reflections are often used as a metaphor," Meyohas states, "because value is always created through exchange." For Meyohas, who studied Economics at the Wharton School before receiving her MFA from Yale, the mirrors represent the mutually supportive institutions of art galleries, collections, publications, and auction houses that increase the cultural and financial capital of the artworks that circulate within their closed networks. Meyohas is also the first artist to have created a fully realized financial instrument as a work of art: an art-backed currency called "Bitchcoin," which functions both as a tongue-in-cheek social commentary and as a legitimate investment vehicle and Bitcoin alternative. In the grand tradition of Marcel Duchamp, Meyohas's art exposes the "smoke and mirrors" of art world mystification, revealing how value is created and sustained. Knowing the tricks, however, does not diminish the impact of their magic, and her Speculations photographs are particularly sumptuous and enticing.
Sarah Meyohas works at the forefront of new media. Her studio practice encompasses film, virtual and augmented reality, performance art, sculpture, and photography. Recent solo exhibitions have been at Red Bull Arts New York and 303 Gallery. In the past two months, she has also exhibited at the Barbican Curve in London (with Trevor Paglen), the Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan, the New Museum in New York, and Ming Contemporary Art Museum in Shanghai. She has been featured in The New York Times, Time Magazine, Wired, Vice, Fortune, Artspace, ArtForum, and The Atlantic and has appeared on CNBC, PBS, and CBC. She has been named in Forbes Magazine's "30 under 30" list. Her Cloud of Petals exhibition at Red Bull Arts NY had over 12,000 visitors and 12.5 million social impressions in three months, making it the best-attended exhibition in the program's history.
Logan R. Beitmen